Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that Tae Ryung Yoon, aka Thomas Yoon, 64, Yoo Jin Management Company, Ltd. and Mush Inn Corporation were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joshua M. Kindred today, for asbestos work violations under the Clean Air Act.
Yoo Jin Management Company Ltd. and Mush Inn Corporation were sentenced to 3 years of probation and ordered to jointly and severally pay $30,000 in restitution and a $35,000 fine. The government will be seeking an additional $27,081.14 in restitution for the medical monitoring costs of the victims exposed to asbestos at an upcoming restitution hearing scheduled for March 15.
Tae Ryung Yoon, aka Thomas Yoon, was a contracted employee for the Northern Lights Center and was was sentenced to a term of 2 years of probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
A 10-count indictment was filed in September 2019, which alleged that from January 2015 through March 2015, Thomas Yoon, Yoo Jin Management Company, Ltd., and Mush Inn Corporation knowingly violated Clean Air Act asbestos work practice standards and asbestos disposal standards with regard to the renovation of a an old boiler room at the Northern Lights Center, located at 1200 W. Northern Lights Blvd. in Anchorage. Further, the owners and operators of the facility failed to submit notification to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as required when renovating 393 square feet of Regulated Asbestos Containing Material.
According to Court Documents, Yoo Jin Management Company Ltd. and Mush Inn Corporation, (now known as NLSC Investments, Inc.) jointly owned Northern Lights Center since 2006. In November of 2014, they entered into a contract with a handyman/contractor to remove insulation, pipe, pump, electric power lines and the unused boilers located in the old boiler room at the facility. The contractor was not a certified asbestos abatement contractor. Despite having knowledge that there had been asbestos discovered during prior renovation projects, they failed to have an asbestos survey completed prior to the renovation commencing in January 2015 and failed to inform the contractor of the possibility of asbestos in the old boiler room. Between January and March 2015, the contractor began removing the insulation that surrounded the pipes and boilers. During the months the contractor was engaged in work, three workers were required to enter the boiler room to replace filters for the heating and ventilation system (HVAC). The work in the boiler room was eventually halted when two of the HVAC workers raised concerns about asbestos. The EPA was notified, and an inspector surveyed the boiler room. The EPA inspector discovered white dust and flakes throughout the boiler room. Samples taken from the boiler room were later confirmed by the EPA laboratory to contain 2%, 5%, 7% and 17% asbestos respectively.
The EPA and Congress have determined there is no safe exposure limit for asbestos. In 1971, asbestos became the first hazardous air pollutant listed under the Clean Air Act. Because there is no concentration of asbestos that is considered safe, the EPA disseminated work practice standards for renovations and demolition projects that direct the handling and disposal of regulated asbestos containing material.
“The defendants’ illegal practices for the removal of asbestos containing material exposed four workers to asbestos and these workers now face extended periods of medical monitoring,” said Special Agent in Charge Scot Adair of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Alaska. “EPA is taking action to hold the defendants accountable for their actions.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of this case. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charisse Arce and Karla Gebel Perrin, Special Assistant U. S. Attorney, U.S. EPA Regional Criminal Enforcement Counsel.
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